It is heartening on this #Giving Tuesday to see all the amazing work being done on behalf of people, the environment and the important issues of our time. In these trying times, it is wonderful to be able to step forward to support such good work. I encourage us all to do so!
I also encourage you to consider another way of giving: #Giving Thanks.
Teachers have one of the toughest – and the most important – jobs in America.
In his Foreword to Teaching with Heart, Parker J. Palmer vividly describes their work and the spirit they bring to the classroom:
Despite poor working conditions, teachers show up at school every day with welcoming smiles and thoughtful lesson plans developed on weekends and by the midnight oil. Despite the fact that they’re often underpaid and their schools are underfinanced, they do their work with full hearts, faithfully and well. Despite the drumbeat of “accountability” that puts test scores above all else, they never forget that their ultimate responsibility is to this child, and this child, and this child. Despite the fact that they are surrounded by public misunderstanding and political frustrations-, they keep investing themselves in the promise with which every child is born.
Despite all these challenges, teachers believe in the exuberant potential and possibility of their work and show up day after day in our nation’s classrooms.
Teachers deserve our thanks!
But teachers are seldom thanked in “real time” – and rarely do we reach back through the years to acknowledge and thank a teacher who made a difference in our lives.
We want to change that. We want to celebrate the spirit and courage of the teachers who each and every day, despite many challenges and obstacles, strive to “lift a lamp” in their classrooms.
We created the Thank You, Teachers Project – where people can post thank you letters to the important teachers in their life (from the classroom and beyond, from your past and your present, from your own life and your child’s).
All letters will appear on the Thank You, Teachers Gallery for all to see.
We believe that by publicly thanking these teachers – by recognizing the exceptional and difficult work they do each and every day – we honor and celebrate all teachers!
So, in addition to supporting all the wonderful causes through #Giving Tuesday – please consider #Giving Back – and using our online form and writing a thank you letter to a special teacher in your life.
Thank you for joining us in creating this wave of gratitude!
Megan Scribner
PS. We will post these letters free of charge – as part of our own way of saying thank you to teachers. (To be honest, it is time consuming work, so we appreciate any and all support of this effort.)
Please also consider sending a gift book package – a thank you letter and a copy of Teaching with Heart – to your special teacher. The funds raised through this gift package help support all the work of the Thank You, Teachers Project.
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